Extracting data from the web Part 1

Description

The internet is a treasure trove of data, if you know how to collect it. In this two part series of webinars, we will examine easy ways to collect different types of data from the web with R.

In Part 1 we will use the httr package to collect data that is provided through web APIs. APIs are a popular and efficient way to share data online. If someone purposefully collected your data to share online, there is a good chance that they are sharing it through an API. Unfortunately, not all APIs work the same way, and how they are implemented depends largely on the developer. In this webinar, we will look at the basic components of HTTP, the language that underlies web APIs. You will learn how to make HTTP requests to an API with the httr package, and how to use best practices when making HTTP GET requests from APIs with R.